DURHAM, NC – Senior
Henrique Cunha became the program’s all-time leader in career doubles wins
Sunday, as the fifth-ranked Duke men’s tennis team defeated Charlotte, 9-0, at
the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center. The
Blue Devils move to 3-0 on the spring with the win.

“It was a great first home weekend for us, I thought we
played well again today,” said head coach Ramsey Smith. “This will give us a
lot of confidence going into the ITA Kick-Off in a couple of days.”

For the second consecutive day, the Blue Devils overwhelmed
their opponents in doubles. The top-ranked pair of Cunha and sophomore Raphael
Hemmeler continued their impressive play, collecting their 11th consecutive
victory dating back to the fall with an 8-2 decision over Jack Williams and Forrest
Edwards of Charlotte. With the win, Cunha passed Doug Root to sit atop the program
chart for most career doubles wins in a career at 122.

“It is just numbers,” Cunha said of the record. “I prefer to
just stay focused on the courts and to keep doing my job. Rafa [Hemmeler] and I
are playing well. I think we have a chance to have a very good season if we
continue to do well.”

On court two, freshman Michael Redlicki and Jason Tahir
defeated Charlotte’s Alex Calott and Paul Cisti, 8-2, to clinch the doubles
point for the Blue Devils, while the duo of juniors Chris Mengel and Fred Saba
completed the sweep with an 8-2 victory over Jordi Massalle Ferrer and
Krzysztof Kwasniewicz.

In singles, 38th-ranked Hemmeler earned the first singles
point of the match for the second consecutive day as he defeated Paul Cisti in
the No. 5 position, 6-1, 6-2. Cunha, who became program’s all-time leader in
singles victories in the fall, downed Jack Williams in the No. 1 position, 6-0,
6-0. The Jaú, Brazil native, has won 18 consecutive games over the past two
days.

Playing in the No. 2 position for first time in his
collegiate career, Redlicki overpowered Forrest Edwards, 6-2, 6-2, to earn his
third consecutive victory in a dual match, while moments later Mengel clinched
the match for Duke with his 6-4, 6-2 decision over Calott at the No. 4 spot in
the lineup.

“Mike played really well,” Smith said. “He is working on
being aggressive, using his size and trying to dictate a little more. He did
that in doubles and singles this weekend. It’s a really good start for him. It
is key for freshmen to get wins early and get confidence in dual matches. He is
looking really good.”

After staying on serve until 3-3 in his match on court six,
Tahir was able to pull away from Charlotte’s Kwasniewicz by winning the final
nine games of the match to clinch a 6-3, 6-0 decision. After pulling out a
thrilling three-set victory on Saturday over Elon’s Stefan Fortmann, Saba won
his match over Massalle Ferrer, 6-2, 6-3, in the No. 3 slot.

Up next, the Blue Devils will serve as one of 15 host sites for
the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Kick-Off Jan. 25-27. Duke will play Middle
Tennessee State Friday, Jan. 25 at 10 a.m. The winner of that match will then face
the winner of Virginia Tech and Northwestern match in a championship on
Saturday at 6 p.m., with the winner advancing to the ITA National Team Indoors
Feb. 15-18 in Seattle, Wash.